WASHINGTON: A woman who has accused Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s US Supreme Court nominee, of sexual misconduct decades ago is willing to publicly testify before a Senate panel set to vote this week on his nomination, her lawyer said on Monday, while Kavanaugh called the allegation “completely false.”
Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor in California, has accused Kavanaugh of trying to attack her and remove her clothing in the early 1980s when they were both high school students in a Maryland suburb outside Washington. Kavanaugh, the Republican president’s second nominee for a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court, has denied the allegations.
“This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes — to her or to anyone,” Kavanaugh said in a statement issued by the White House. “Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday,” Kavanaugh added.
“I am willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the Committee deems appropriate to refute this false allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity,” he said in the statement.
The accusation has threatened to complicate his nomination, which must be approved first by the Judiciary Committee and then by the full chamber, which is narrowly controlled by Trump’s fellow Republicans. A committee vote is scheduled for Thursday, just weeks before November 6 congressional elections.
Some Republicans on the committee have said Ford should have a chance to tell her story, a view also expressed on Monday by White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway.
In television interviews on Monday, Ford’s Washington-based lawyer, Debra Katz, said her client would be willing to speak out publicly. Asked if that included testimony under oath at a public hearing before senators, Katz told CBS’s “This Morning” programme: “She’s willing to do what she needs to do.”
Katz’s comments suggested any public hearing could be explosive. Ford believes Kavanaugh’s alleged actions were “attempted rape” and “that if it were not for the severe intoxication of Brett Kavanaugh, she would have been raped,” Katz told NBC’s “Today” programme.
Katz told CBS that Ford had consumed a beer but was not drunk.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley plans to speak with Kavanaugh and Ford before the committee’s scheduled vote, according to a spokesman for the senator. Fellow Republican panel member Jeff Flake has urged the committee to delay its vote until it hears from Ford. Another committee Republican, Lindsey Graham, welcomed hearing from Ford but said it should “be done immediately so the process can continue as scheduled.”
Republicans hold a slim 11-10 advantage on the Judiciary Committee and a 51-49 majority in the Senate.
Even before the allegation emerged, Kavanaugh’s fate appeared to rest on two moderate Republican women senators who support abortion rights.
One of them, Senator Lisa Murkowski, told CNN late on Sunday that Republicans “might have to consider” discussing a possible delay. The other, Senator Susan Collins, told the New York Times that the allegations are serious and that Ford should be interviewed. But Collins also questioned why Democrats had not raised them earlier. — Reuters
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